Air pressure control systems are used in many hospital room and semiconductor clean room applications to create isolation and containment areas. Isolation and containment techniques manage airborne micron size particles and micro organisms such as viruses, bacteria, fungus, mold, spores, and dust. Such techniques add to the health benefits of those living and working in the pressurized room by filling the space with clean air and removing contaminated air. The pressurization of a closed space further prevents the leakage of contaminated air into the room. As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the use of isolation and containment rooms as a viable method of slowing the spread of airborne viruses.
The negative air pressure design criteria of many of the prior art control systems capture and contain the air containing micro-organisms and, then, neutralize or destroy the airborne contamination before releasing the air back into the environment. By evacuating air from the room, the leakage of air is into the room, preventing the escape of contamination.
Existing air pressure control systems have been built into containment rooms in hospitals specializing in the treatment of Tuberculosis (TB) and other airborne diseases. The number of such rooms is adequate for today's medical requirements, but will not meet the needs of an out break of a human to human version of the avian influenza (i.e., Bird Flu), or similar airborne disease. If an outbreak appears in a metropolitan area, the number of containment rooms will be inadequate to accommodate the number of inflicted people. Further, if the outbreak occurs in a rural area, hospitals with containment rooms may not be located within a reasonable distance.
Therefore, the challenge is to find a way to make available positive and negative air pressure control systems that will convert a standard room at the site of an outbreak of the influenza. The control systems must be easily installed and made available in sufficient quantities to isolate and protect the first responders; and to contain, capture, and destroy the contaminated air used by symptomatic patients.